Two arrested at Indian Island protesting Trident submarine

topic : Indian Island | nuclear weapons

Eighteen people gathered at the Naval Magazine Indian Island gate on the afternoon of Saturday, April 21, to protest the USS Ohio Trident nuclear submarine and the war in Iraq. They carried signs saying "No Iraq War", "The Longer We Stay, the Worse it Gets" and "Purge the Urge to Surge", among others. Doug Milholland gave a short speech quoting Abraham Lincoln, President Eisenhower and Martin Luther King, speaking about the danger that militarism poses to our society.

Then protesters walked towards the gate. Milholland drew a large dollar sign with Marinara sauce, symbolizing the blood that has been spilled in American military interventions around the world.

Liz Rivera Goldstein, of Port Townsend, and Bethel Prescott, of Irondale, stood in front of the gate, while the others watched. Both were arrested and charged with "disorderly conduct" by Jefferson County Sheriffs.

Prescott was released later in the afternoon on $250 bail but Rivera Goldstein refused bail and will be held until a hearing Monday morning at the Jefferson County Courthouse, when she will ask the judge to be released on her own recognizance. She said that bail is inappropriate in this case because she is no danger to the community, and will show up in court because she wants to have the opportunity to explain the reasons for her actions.

The USS Ohio arrived at Indian Island Thursday afternoon for an expected stay of two or three days. It is one of four Trident submarines that have been retired from their original job carrying ballistic nuclear missile in order to carry cruise missiles capable of carrying either nuclear or non-nuclear warheads. It will be based at Bangor and will load non-nuclear cruise missiles at Indian Island when it returns to base approximately once a year.

This is another expansion of the Indian Island base, which is now the largest munitions depot on the West Coast, shipping munitions to Iraq and to the Pacific fleet. The Ohio will be joined by a second retrofitted Trident submarine and other cruise missile submarines using Indian Island.

It is a beautiful view from the Indian Island Gate. A small park across the road sweeps down to the water's edge. A tree is covered with spring blossoms. It is easy to forget in our rural paradise among the trees the immense suffering caused by US policies and fueled in part by the munitions shipping out from here and by weapons such as the USS Ohio.

UPDATE: After refusing bail, Rivera Goldstein was finally released on Monday, April 23, following an arraignment that established excessive penalties under the claim that Rivera Goldstein either could not be trusted to return to court "and/or the defendant poses a substantial threat to the safety of the community."

The conditions of release, according to Rivera Goldstein, are as follows: "I cannot go within 500 yards of Indian Island, and I cannot have any communication with Bethel Prescott, who was arrested with me. The prosecuting attorney asked for travel restrictions to within western Washington, but I asked to have that dropped so I could travel to see my father-in-law, who has been re-diagnosed with cancer. I am flying to California to see him. The judge agreed to drop the travel restriction.

"My attorney was not in court on Monday, but he will be filing motions to have the restrictions dropped. I feel that being held over the weekend, and these conditions of release, are a way of punishing me without a trial. I do not believe I am guilty of breaking any laws. I believe I have a constitutional right and duty to protest against the escalation of the war and occupation of Iraq, increased military aggression around the world, and the increased role of Indian Island in all of this. I do not believe a jury would find me guilty in a trial, and so the prosecution is punishing me before they can fail to get a conviction."

For information on the USS Ohio Trident nuclear submarine, visit http://dangoldstein.blogspot.com .